Belgium slams Israel's conduct in Lebanon as 'unacceptable'

Belgium's foreign minister on Tuesday urged the European Union to suspend a preferential trade agreement with Israel over its "unacceptable" actions in Lebanon.

"Israel's conduct is completely unacceptable. Of course, we must firmly condemn Hezbollah's initial attacks, which, in seeking to show solidarity with Iran, dragged Lebanon into a war it did not want, as well as Israel's disproportionate and indiscriminate response," Maxime Prevot said on Tuesday ahead of a meeting with EU foreign ministers in Luxembourg.

He also said Belgium is calling for at least a partial suspension of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, adding that Belgium is "aware that a full suspension is probably out of reach given the positions of the various European countries."

Prevot's remarks echoed those of Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who on Sunday called on the EU to end the agreement, but EU countries are reportedly set to push back on Sanchez's request.

Sanchez has repeatedly denounced Israel for its military conduct in Gaza and Lebanon, as well as for waging a joint military campaign with the US against Iran.

On Monday, UN experts also called for a full suspension of the agreement, according to a press release by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights.

"The European Citizens' Initiative calling for full suspension of the agreement in light of Israel's human rights violations, has gathered over one million signatures to date," they said.

The initiative was launched in December last year in response to Israel's "unprecedented level of civilian killings and injuries, large-scale population displacement, and the systematic destruction of hospitals and medical facilities in Gaza."

UN experts added that "the EU cannot credibly claim to uphold human rights while sustaining preferential trade with a state whose conduct has been found by multiple international bodies as amounting to genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes."